Mini Review ‘Magic For Liars’ ~ Sarah Gailey

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Publication Date: June 4th 2019

Publisher: Tor Books

Blurb: Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in this fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey. 

Ivy Gamble has never wanted to be magic. She is perfectly happy with her life—she has an almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, and an empty apartment, and a slight drinking problem. It’s a great life and she doesn’t wish she was like her estranged sister, the magically gifted professor Tabitha.

But when Ivy is hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Tabitha’s private academy, the stalwart detective starts to lose herself in the case, the life she could have had, and the answer to the mystery that seems just out of her reach.

★★★★/5

Review

Magic for Liars is a short, sharp book about worlds that could have been, the dangerous things you do for the people you love and broken relationships – set against a backdrop of magic.

What I loved about Magic for Liars was how mundane the magic is – yes there are fantastical things you can do with it but the wielders are very human and Gailey nails this. Ivy is a wonderful character to follow, she’s messy, flawed and wants gloriously. It was both uncomfortable and wonderful.

It was a little slow to start but overall a thoroughly inventive and wonderful book that I’ll definitely be rereading in the near future. And finally I cannot leave without a mention to Rahul – bi cinnamon roll extraordinaire.

“Fucking Mages.”

Find Magic for Liars
Goodreads ~ Dymocks ~ QBD ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia

Find Sarah Gailey
Website ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads Author Page

 

 

Advertisements

Book Review ‘Kingdom of Souls’ ~ Rena Barron

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

Publication Date: September 24th 2019

Publisher: HarperVoyager

Series: Kingdom of Souls #1

Blurb: THERE’S MAGIC IN HER BLOOD.

Arrah is a young woman from a long line of the most powerful witch doctors in the land. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can’t even cast the simplest curse.

Shame and disappointment dog her.

When strange premonitions befall her family and children in the kingdom begin to disappear, Arrah undergoes the dangerous and scorned process of selling years of her life for magic. This borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal and a danger beyond what she could have imagined. Now Arrah must find a way to master magic, or at least buy it, in order to save herself and everything she holds dear.

An explosive fantasy set in a world of magic and legend with a twist you will never see coming. 

★★★/5

Book Review ‘Ninth House’ ~ Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Publication Date: October 1st 2019

Publisher: Gollancz

Series: Ninth House series #1

Blurb: Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

★★★★★/5

Book Review ‘The Impossible Contract’ ~ K.A. Doore

The Impossible Contract by KA Doore

Publication Date: November 12th 2019

Publisher: Tor Books

Series: Chronicles of Ghadid #2

Blurb: Thana has a huge reputation to live up to as daughter of the Serpent, who rules over Ghadid’s secret clan of assassins. Opportunity to prove herself arrives when Thana accepts her first contract on Heru, a dangerous foreign diplomat with the ability to bind a person’s soul under his control.

She may be in over her head, especially when Heru is targeted by a rival sorcerer who sends hordes of the undead to attack them both. When Heru flees, Thana has no choice than to pursue him across the sands to the Empire that intends to capture Ghadid inside its iron grip.

A stranger in a strange city, Thana’s only ally is Mo, a healer who may be too noble for her own good. Meanwhile, otherworldly and political dangers lurk around every corner, and even more sinister plans are uncovered which could lead to worldwide devastation. Can Thana rise to the challenge—even if it means facing off against an ancient evil?

★★★★☆/5

Mini Review ‘Across the Void’ ~ SK Vaughn

Across the Void by S.K. Vaughn

Publication Date: June 11th 2019

Publisher: Sphere

Blurb: Commander Maryann “May” Knox awakes from a medically induced coma alone, adrift in space on a rapidly failing ship, with little to no memory of who she is or why she’s there.

Slowly, she pieces together that she’s the captain of the ship, Hawking II; that she was bound for Europa—one of Jupiter’s moons—on a research mission; and that she’s the only survivor of either an accident—or worse, a deliberate massacre—that has decimated her entire crew. With resources running low, and her physical strength severely compromised, May must rely on someone back home to help her. The problem is: everyone thinks she’s dead.

Back on Earth, it’s been weeks since Hawking II has communicated with NASA, and Dr. Stephen Knox is on bereavement leave to deal with the apparent death of his estranged wife, whose decision to participate in the Europa mission strained their marriage past the point of no return. But when he gets word that NASA has received a transmission from May, Stephen comes rushing to her aid.

What he doesn’t know is that not everyone wants May to make it back alive. Even more terrifying: she might not be alone on that ship. Featuring a twisting and suspenseful plot and compelling characters, Across the Void is a moving and evocative thriller that you won’t be able to put down.

★★/5